Getty The Chicago Bears are said by one NFL insider to be looking for a new head coach to replace Matt Nagy at season's end.
Is it finally happening?
Rumors of Chicago Bears head coach Matt Nagy’s exit have been popping up since the team had a six-game losing streak in the middle of the 2020 season. After finishing 12-4 his first year with the team and winning Coach of the Year honors in 2018, Nagy has a record of 19-21, and he has consistently brought one of the league’s most inept offenses to the table.
The Bears have never fired a head coach during the regular season since the team was founded in 1920, and they’re very likely not going to start now. But according to one prominent NFL insider, Benjamin Allbright of KOA 850AM in Denver, Chicago has already begun the process of looking for its next head coach.
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Allbright: Bears Already Doing Background on Other Coaches
Allbright said in a November 4 appearance on Sports Talk Chicago with John Zaghloul that his sources have told him Chicago is currently doing some early research on possible new head coaching candidates.
“From my conversations with people, the (Bears) have already started doing background on potential replacements,” Allbright told Zaghloul, before getting specific about who he thinks the frontrunner is.
“I’ll say Brian Daboll would be the leader in the clubhouse,” Allbright revealed.
The current offensive coordinator for the Buffalo Bills, Daboll has become a popular name and is frequently mentioned to be among the top head coaching candidates once this season ends. Many have lauded Daboll for the way he has helped quarterback Josh Allen develop into a 4,544-yard passer in the few years since his rookie season in 2018, but Allbright mentioned another possibility, as well.
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Bears May Also Be Interested in Vance Joseph
Allbright named another potential contender in the head coaching department for Chicago: current Arizona Cardinals defensive coordinator Vance Joseph.
“I think Brian Daboll would be a good hire. As good of a hire as I could think of. You have to go through the interview process and Chicago’s got 4 or 5 other guys that they’re gonna to do some background on and do some interviewing on. I think they’re gonna do an interview with Vance Joseph,” Allbright added. “I think they’ll do an interview with him. I’ll tell ya, Vance Joseph in his first go around in Denver was a disaster, but looking at him now at Arizona, he looks like he has finally got it. I think Dan Quinn is going to get some interviews. I don’t know if him in Chicago is one that really works.”
Joseph had a disappointing tenure as the head coach of the Denver Broncos from 2017-18, going 12-21 in his two seasons leading the team, but he didn’t exactly have a quarterback to help him out in that span, either.
Quinn, who was head coach of the Atlanta Falcons from 2015-2020 (43-42 record) is currently the defensive coordinator for the Dallas Cowboys, although Allbright didn’t say Chicago was directly interested in him, so much as suggest he’ll be a potential HC candidate.
Between Daboll and Joseph, the OC is more intriguing simply because the Bears have a rookie quarterback in Justin Fields who is going to need development and guidance, and Daboll would provide that. Daboll has never been a head coach, though, and there’s truth to the adage that great coordinators don’t always make great head coaches.
With nine games left in the regular season, a lot can happen, but based on early reports, Chicago is already thinking about life after Matt Nagy.